CFN – Good enough. Injury and whining didn’t mar a fine performance by the Habs. Goalie Carey Price kicked out 29 of 30 shots on goal and all was well in Hab land as they defeated Ottawa 3-1 and evened their series at 1.
Ryan White scored the first goal of the game in the second period followed by Brendan Gallagher.
All four goals in the game were scored even strength with Montreal outshooting the Sens 34-30.
Many were expecting fireworks after controversy caused by Sens coach Paul Maclean and Brandon Prust calling him a “Fat Walrus”. Prust had an assist and four PIMS to go with 3 shots on goal.
Now it’s off to Ottawa in what’s turning out to be an interesting series. The Habs kids vs the Sens kids, especially if Max Pacioretty and Brian Gionta remain out along with Lars Eller. Jeff Halpern and Colby Armstrong both were back in action filling those two roster spots.
Sidney Crosby returned and scored two goals, Evgeni Malkin scored once, and Jarome Iginla tossed in two assists, but it wasn’t enough as the New York Islanders showed some spunk and beat the Penguins 4-3 in Pittsburgh outshooting the Penguins 42-33.
Kyle Okposo scored his first of the play offs and winner at 12:23 of the third period. Crosby played nearly 24 minutes on the ice and he, Malkin, and Inginla took 20 of the Penguins shots combined!
Chicago overpowered the Wild in their 5-2 win to take a 2-0 lead in their series. Chicago nearly doubled the shots on goal ( 48-28) with two goals each for Michael Frolik and Patrick Sharp and one for Brian Bickell.
Vancouver players must really love golf as they lost for the second time at home to San Jose with former Canuck Raffi Torres scoring the winner in OT for San Jose. Joe Thornton, +3 on the night, and Patrick Marleau also scored for the Sharks with Ryan Kesler scoring two for Vancouver and showing that he was there to play.
Roberto Luongo took the tough loss for Vancouver stopping 30 of 33 shots on goal.
Saturday’s games see Toronto in Boston for game 2 of their series; the Rangers in Washington, Anaheim in Detroit and it should be interesting to see if St. Louis can go up 3-0 in their series as they visit the Kings in Los Angeles.
